Police Office on Wheels

The Gainesville Police Department will be rolling out their new vehicles with new graphic designs this week.

The department has chosen the new Chevrolet Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle (PPV) to replace the Ford Crown Victoria, which is no longer in production. The Ford Crown Victoria has been the staple in police vehicles for years. This past year was the final production year for the Crown Victoria.

After extensive research we found that the Chevrolet Caprice PPV would be best suited for our agency. The Chevrolet Caprice PPV is an exclusive police vehicle, built for performance and safety. The Caprice PPV is built with officers in mind; it has the largest in class interior and trunk space. The vehicle is built with an emphasis on safety and ergonomics. The seats are specially designed with comfort and support to accommodate the officer and their equipment, including their bulky utility belts. The patrol car is viewed as an extended office for officers. Officers spend much of their 12 hour shift in and around these vehicles.

The vehicles will be equipped with the latest and most up to date equipment to better serve our citizens. Each vehicle has a specially designed rear transport seat, door panels and window bars for protection and safety. The vehicles will operate off a wireless platform, allowing the officers mobile data terminals (MDT) to run quickly and efficiently. The mobile data terminals are Panasonic Toughbook laptop computers; these allow officer’s access to the same information as the dispatcher, and also the Georgia Crime Information Center. The MDT’s will allow officers to complete reports in a more timely fashion, while continuing to be a visual crime deterrent in the community, it will also assist with faster responses to calls for service.

The Caprice PPV is a high performance vehicle with an emphasis on fuel economy; the Caprice PPV has the best in class fuel consumption at a reported 18 mpg. One of the most noticeable features is the 6.0 Liter V-8 with GM’s Active Fuel Management technology, this technology improves gas mileage during normal driving conditions by dropping four of the eight cylinders, making the car essentially a V-4, while functioning as an eight-cylinder when necessary. The Caprice PPV has among the best braking performance of any police vehicle.

The department felt that with the change of vehicles this was the right time to change our graphics and image. The department has had the previous graphics on our vehicles for nearly 11 years. The new design is focused on visibility and police recognition. The vehicles will continue to be the traditional black and white, while having a sleek, modern, and stylish look. The new graphics are a cost savings of at least 23% and have an extended warranty of up to 5 years. The previous graphics had only been warranted for up to 1 year.

The new vehicles and graphics will be phased in throughout the agency through attrition. These vehicles will assist the Gainesville Police Department with maintaining its positive image and they will allow officers the ability to continue representing and serving the City of Gainesville in a professional manner.